


Will You Save the World With Me?

by justicesquad111



Category: DARLING In The FRANXX (Anime), Pacific Rim (Movies), The 100 (TV)
Genre: Action & Romance, Alternate Universe - Pacific Rim Fusion, Drama & Romance, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Jaegers (Pacific Rim), Kaiju (Pacific Rim), Survival, The Drift (Pacific Rim)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-20
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-06-13 15:14:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15367407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justicesquad111/pseuds/justicesquad111
Summary: In a far distant future, Kaiju have poured out of The Breach and overtaken most of the world. Bellamy Blake and a few other Jaeger pilots are all that stand between Mount Hope and destruction.  Just as Bellamy begins to question if all of this struggle is worth it, a new pilot in red armor arrives. She is powerful, witty and clever, but most importantly she makes Bellamy unsure of himself in a way no one else has.  Not only does she antagonize him, but she shows him there is nothing wrong with fighting for more than just survival.





	Will You Save the World With Me?

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, i've never really written fanfics before so this is a first for me! If I am missing an important tag or something feel free to let me know in the comments. I figured I should put this first chapter out instead of continually coming out with excuses not to. Hope you all enjoy, lmk what you think!

Everyone can remember their first time seeing a Jaeger, for Bellamy Blake it happened soon after arriving at Mount Hope. Like a knife piercing the horizon line, Mount Hope’s cliff face rose out of the ocean defiantly. At its base, meandering sandbars ebbed and flowed with the tide. Some days they vanished beneath the waves and others they formed uneven dunes at the base of the cliff. On those days Bellamy and his sister Octavia watched the Jaegers do their rounds. The twenty-story humanoid robot walked along the shoreline just on the perimeter of the beach. The nuclear power plant in its massive torso glowed so bright that it illuminated the entire cliff face. Perched on top of the body was a head that felt disproportionately small. Creaking and whirring, the Jaeger marched the circumference of the island once every few hours, never leaving, so much so that Bellamy doubted he would recognize the island without the Jaegers. He had gotten so desensitized to them that Octavia and he played a game where they would follow it, jump into the large sand embankments its feet left behind, and then wait for the waves to fill it with ocean water - their own private pool.

Sadly, just like everything else in the post-Kaiju world, their game didn’t last. Instead of creating private pools the Blakes began spending countless hours in white rooms with pale lighting, solving trajectory puzzles, and fighting for their chance to go on those very same beach patrols. The top brass of the Jaeger Pilots Academy always spoke of one day reclaiming the parts of earth humanity had lost to the Kaiju, but Bellamy knew better. After spending most of his life being taught to only take manageable risks, he knew trying to reclaim earth would cost a price humanity couldn’t afford.  
However, Octavia remained hopeful. When they were younger she often stayed up until the early hours of the morning looking at holographic pictures of old places and animals. She loved to ask him if he remembered seeing any of the animals in person.

He always responded, “Octavia, I am only a few years older than you and the Kaiju have been here for a long time.”  
Whenever he used this answer he stretched the word “long” in the hopes it would get his point across; the holographic world she wanted to live in was gone. Personally, Bellamy couldn’t bring himself to care about what brought the beasts from the abyss, knowing that answer wouldn’t change his situation. He chose not to focus on what he had lost, just what he had left – Mount Hope, and Octavia.

 

***

“Bell, what did I tell you about brooding when I’m in your head? It’s okay to be emo just don’t do it in the Jaeger.”

“I wasn’t being emo-”

“Even if I wasn’t in your head I’d know you were brooding, it’s written all over your face!”

Like Bellamy, Octavia walked in place on the large treadmill that made up the floor of their cockpit. The cockpit of a Jaeger looked more like a home for bats than a place for pilots. Since the movements of the pilots mirrored those of the machine there was no need for seats – when they walked so did their Jaeger. Bellamy operated the left side, and Octavia the right; the space between them lay barren save for a few cords that hung from the ceiling. All of the gauges and other equipment needed to control the Jaeger remained embedded in the outer walls; these buttons glowed with just enough light for them to make out each other’s face. Her steps kept in perfect time with his; between two compatible pilots Drifting, remedial tasks were done subconsciously.

He turned to look at her and said, “Okay O, how’s this?” He pulled the corners of his mouth up into an exaggerated smile that almost made her laugh.

“Never mind, I’d rather you brood!”

 

Her gray Jaeger armor matched his, but unlike Bellamy, the broad shoulder pads made Octavia look top-heavy, liable to be tipped over by a light breeze. Despite it all, Octavia remained one of Mount Hope’s most lethal pilots.

“I would totally kick your ass.” Again, Bellamy forgot she could hear his thoughts.

“You’re not very scary when you’re outside of Ajax.”

That’s what they named their Jaeger, Ajax the bulwark of the Achaeans, one of their favorite characters in The Iliad. Achaean Ajax loomed over peer and foe alike, a perfect exemplification of Ajax the Jaeger.

Everything about the day felt average; the ocean water and the sky were a matching slate gray, causing the horizon line to disappear. Only a few more laps around the island and their day would be over. Lately the time between patrol shifts felt too short, most of the rogue Kaiju roamed the southern hemisphere, terrorizing cities half a world away. Octavia liked to keep track of time between their Kaiju conflicts, Bellamy didn’t see the point. Although he loved Mount Hope it also caged him, sometimes he struggled to understand the point of fighting so hard to stay alive just to live trapped. His earliest memories were of the white rooms of the Mount Hope training facilities; running up and down the hallways of the dorms with the other candidates. The facility felt like living in a snow globe, and no matter how many times you shook it, not a whole lot changed.

Ajax abruptly stopped moving, before Bellamy figured out why; red lights inside of the cockpit began to flash. Like they’d been trained to, they took a defensive stance, running Ajax out into deeper water in order to make it for enemies to anticipate Ajax’s movement. Bellamy never tired of hearing Ajax’s electronic muscles respond to his organic ones. Piloting Jaegers always brought a smirk to his face – the same electricity that ran through Ajax ran through him as well. In the cockpit, the large holo-map rose from the space between them to display a red blip just outside of their fifty mile range. A blue wire-frame representation of their surroundings, the holo-map, often proved the most vital piece of Jaeger equipment.  
After a deep breath, he reached out his consciousness closer to Octavia’s and ran through possibilities with her, lightning fast - one neuron jumping to the next. When two minds connected verbal communication became obsolete. In the Drift two Jaeger pilots use through thoughts and memories to formulate a plan.

“It’s been two weeks since the last Kaiju, this is, abnormal, too abnormal.”  
She showed him a memory of the event diagram back inside the dingy control room of Mount Hope; the diagram marked the next Kaiju Event at a week away.

“It could be a double Event, I think holding the line is our best bet.”

“Could HQ be sending reinforcements?” Occasionally new Jaeger pilots got dropped off in order to fortify their position.

“We could use more cute pilots….”

“Octavia now really isn’t the time! But reinforcements seem unlikely; Kane said we’re spread thin as is.”

Like modified binoculars, Ajax’s eyes zoomed in to the point of the horizon where the blip came from. The silhouette of a Jaeger emerged from the gray fog, first a blurry outline, and then fully formed all at once. It hung stiff, deactivated, as four massive helicopters held it suspended by cables protruding from its massive shoulders.

“Oh my god,” Octavia’s voice echoed off of the walls of the cockpit.

Ajax’s cursory inspection of the Jaeger didn’t glean much; no apparent special tech like wings or swords, and it looked to be about average height. The head had a primarily red face with a unique black visor over its eyes. The red armor that covered its chest, arms, and legs gave it this feeling of radiance. Jaeger paint usually got chipped off in combat so most pilots preferred darker colors, but this red color scheme just shouted come and get me. On the shoulder stood a man, no a woman, in red armor just as provocative as her Jaeger’s.

“Bell-”

“I see her.”

The woman kept her helmet tucked under her arm and leaned idly on her Jaeger’s neck with the other. Barely long enough to brush her shoulders; her blonde hair looked ghostly contrasted against the red of her suit. She turned to face Ajax and smiled. Bellamy felt her blue eyes through the fog, the distance, the metal armor of Ajax’s head, and despite it all he felt naked, like she could see him.

Before he could dwell on it he said, “State your purpose.”

Could this be a rogue pilot? Sometimes people whispered about Jaeger pilots that fled their mundane routines in search of anything else. He held the radio button so his voice projected out of the speakers in Ajax’s chest. With relief, he noted that his voice didn’t sound as unnerved as he felt. Octavia’s fear that had clouded the Drift only moments ago gave way to amusement.

In response the red woman took her helmet out from under her arm, put it on, and then crawled into the side hatch of her Jaeger’s head. A few moments later, two eyes projected on to the previously blank visor, the light eyes with the black visor made her Jaeger look like it had thick eye shadow on.  
“Do we attack?”

“No O, why would we attack another Jaeger pilot?”

“Well what’s your plan then?”

Thankfully he didn’t have to come up with one because the Red Jaeger dropped from its harnesses and crashed into the water. Displaced water shot so high into the air for a moment it looked as though gravity had reversed. Bellamy could feel the annoyance of the helicopter pilots as they veered away to avoid the waves. A tremor of panic disrupted their Drift as the unknown Red Jaeger vanished behind a wall of white ocean foam.

A voice punched through their radio channel, “Dropping your guard is very irresponsible.” It belonged to a woman, probably the one in the Red Jaeger. It felt like she was scolding them.

Bellamy flushed in embarrassment as the words of his initial rebuttal got jumbled in his mouth, finally he said, “What’s irresponsible is acting like the enemy!”

“Who said I’m not the enemy?”

How’d she get on our channel? It’s encrypted!

Before a Jaeger can punch it must pull its arms back, this backward motion makes distinct cranking noises as the Jaeger’s gears wind back. Luckily Bellamy and Octavia recognized this noise and picked it out just before the Red Jaeger’s fist broke through the wall of sea foam, heading directly for Ajax’s face. Instinctively, Bell and Octavia moved in unison to pull Ajax’s head back just in time to avoid the jab.

When in combat the Drift between two partners goes into chaos. Normally a two way channel between a pair, in combat the Drift turns into a tug of war between the pair’s rational thoughts and their subconscious. Suddenly like cards on a table each pilot’s memories, fears, and desires get splayed out for the other. One of their earliest Drift Visualization exercises involved creating drawings of each other’s consciousness when put under duress. Bellamy drew Octavia’s as a boat in a storm and Octavia drew Bellamy’s as a red lighthouse.

Their Jaeger’s gears whirred and clicked as the Blakes moved together to lift Ajax’s right arm to block an oncoming side kick from their attacker. Although Ajax had size, speed definitely wasn’t on his side; the Red Jaeger moved without getting slowed by the water. The defensive stance they originally took was working against them, Bellamy cursed because it felt like Ajax couldn’t keep up.

“Octavia it has some tech that’s making it fast. Maybe propellers in the boots or something?”

Instead of using a typical running motion it pushed off with each leg like an ice skater. Ajax lowered into a wide crouched stance, the only way it could meet its foe at eye level. The Red Jaeger began to circle them, probing for a weakness. Thanks to Ajax’s size he could take an exceptional amount of damage, and for that reason Bellamy felt content waiting for their opponent to strike, but like usual Octavia disagreed.

“Fuck waiting around!” Octavia said as she glanced at Bell before flicking the switch that granted her manual control of Ajax’s right arm.

Just as their foe approached their right side Octavia out stretched Ajax’s arm hoping to clothes-line the Red Jaeger. She timed it perfectly; the arm flew out in front of the Red Jaeger’s path but didn’t give it enough time to maneuver out of the way. Its chest crashed into Ajax’s forearm.

Octavia smiled, “Got her.”

“Octavia!” Bellamy tried to warn her, but it was too late.

In one swift motion, the Red Jaeger wrapped its arms and legs around Ajax’s right arm. Like a student climbing a rope in gym class, it shimmied down the arm until making it to the point where Ajax’s gauntlet attached to his forearm. With a twist she pulled the right gauntlet coupling off. It released itself and then sank into the water like a stone; the Red Jaeger flipped off of the arm and skated back a few hundred feet.

Like bile in the back of his throat, anger swelled in Bellamy. How could this be happening to two of the best pilots at Mount Hope? He slipped his arm through the metal ring that hung at his side. Once the ring reached his wrist, it glowed green and then covered his hand in a green holographic glove. This holographic glove matched the much larger one that now surrounded Ajax’s left hand. With pleasure Bellamy noticed the Red Jaeger hesitate as blue electricity began to shoot out of the glove. Bellamy felt like Zeus himself as Ajax slowly walked toward the Red Jaeger, left hand brimming with electricity.

“If she wants to play games she can play games, I think we’re finished here!”

“Bellamy, Bellamy! Do we really want to do this?”

Octavia’s uncertainty clouded the Drift, and when that happened it made it difficult for Bellamy to make Ajax act on his own.

“Bellamy don’t-”

Bellamy’s consciousness overpowered Octavia’s. Ajax ran straight for the Red Jaeger, leading with the now handless right arm that Bellamy now controlled as well. A large silver kite shield grew out of the forearm of the Red Jaeger as it braced for Ajax’s blow.

Only a few strides away, something went wrong, Ajax’s joints began lock up, as if he were cramping – robots don’t cramp. His movement continued to become more lethargic, like a toy running out of power. Panic burned in Bellamy’s chest and it only worsened when suddenly Octavia collapsed; hitting her walkpad so hard her helmet fell off.

“Octavia!”

“Bellamy that’s enough,” General Kane’s voice said through their radio channel.

So that’s what happened, “Remote override? What the hell Kane?” Bellamy’s voice had gone hoarse from the exertion of carrying twice the normal neural load.

“That is your new commanding officer you are about to hit with your Ion Fist. Surely I don’t need to remind you how expensive Jaegers are?” He could hear the receiver click as Kane hung up.

“Sorry we have to come and get you Bell.” Jasper had opened a new line.

“Don’t be mad at us!” Monty chimed in.

Monty and Jasper piloted another Jaeger called the Mary Jane, but what they were saying hardly registered with him. Octavia still lay sprawled out on the floor.

 

“Octavia? I’m coming O, just one second-”

He tried to rush to her, but the tubes that sprouted out of the back of his armor kept him tethered to his side of the cockpit. At first, he ran toward her as fast as he could, but when that resulted with him getting snapped back, he resorted to crawling on all fours. In his rush he forgot about Ajax and the Drift. Octavia’s memories filled his head like a fire hose trying to fill a coffee mug. Ajax’s motor functions became sporadic as both halves of his brain canceled each other out. While this happened the Red Jaeger stood still, watching. Ajax’s arms made windmill motions that scooped up swimming pool sized amounts of water and cast them into the air. To others Ajax looked to be spiraling out of control.

“Bellamy what the hell is going on in there?” Now Kane used his irritated father voice.

“Kane I- She’s my sister. My…responsibility.” Then the neural load became too much to bear.


End file.
